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SolidFire, the leader in all-flash storage systems built for the Next Generation Data Center, now part of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), announced today that CRN® has named Mark Conley, director of channel sales, to its prestigious list of 2016 Channel Chiefs. Also named to the list were NetApp’s Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales, Bill Lipsin, and Vice President of Americas Channel Sales, Scott Strubel. The annual Channel Chiefs list identifies channel executives who consistently execute effective channel partner programs and strategies to drive future business innovation and channel growth.

With more than 30 years of industry experience, Mark has frequently been recognized as a channel innovator for his ability to design, manage and accelerate channel initiatives that deliver exceptional results and drive revenue. Since joining SolidFire in 2014, Mark has been responsible for enabling channel partners to help customers transition to the Next Generation Data Center. Through SolidFire’s Cloud Builder Partner Program, Mark has enabled partners to deliver the only purpose-built all-flash storage architecture that guarantees performance to thousands of workloads and applications from a single, shared infrastructure.

SolidFire doubled its Cloud Builder network under Mark’s leadership, driving a significant increase in 2015 enterprise business with channel partners from this elite group of value-added resellers and systems/solutions integrators. Mark also led the development of the Cloud Builder specialization program that recognizes partners’ advanced technical knowledge and strategic expertise in areas including virtualization and OpenStack. The program has offered partners more predictable and profitable opportunities to design and deploy comprehensive solutions around SolidFire’s all-flash scale-out storage platform to meet customer-specific needs, deliver impact and drive real business value.

“As organizations seek to modernize their infrastructure and increase agility in their IT operations, solution providers who can ease the transition to next-generation cloud, virtualized and other complex data center environments are poised to succeed,” said Mark Conley, director, Americas Channels, SolidFire. “I’m honored to be named a Channel Chief alongside leading channel executives like Bill and Scott and look forward to contributing to NetApp’s channel ecosystem. Adding SolidFire to NetApp’s already strong flash portfolio forms an unstoppable force that will enable customers to achieve the best outcomes across key data center deployment models including performance applications, virtualized infrastructure and cloud-like infrastructure.”

Mark was previously named a Channel Chief in 2009, 2010 and 2011 while at CommVault. NetApp’s Bill Lipsin was named a Channel Chief multiple times during his tenure with Brocade, CA Technologies and Arbor Networks. Channel Chief honorees are selected by CRN’s editorial staff on the basis of their professional achievements, standing in the industry, dedication to the channel partner community and strategies for driving future growth and innovation. Each of the 2016 Channel Chiefs has demonstrated loyalty and ongoing support for the IT channel by consistently promoting, defending and executing outstanding channel partner programs.

"We are honored to present the 2016 lineup of CRN Channel Chiefs, comprised of outstanding executives who move our entire industry forward by cultivating exemplary partner programs and executing cutting-edge business strategy,” said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. “They represent an extraordinary group of individuals who lead by example and serve as both invaluable advocates and innovators of the IT channel. We applaud their incredible strides and look forward to following their accomplishments in the coming year.”

The 2016 CRN Channel Chiefs list is featured in the February 2016 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com.

About The Channel Company
The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com

About SolidFire
SolidFire, now part of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), is the market leader in all-flash storage systems built for the Next Generation Data Center. Leveraging SolidFire’s all-flash architecture, with volume-level Quality of Service (QoS) controls, customers now can guarantee storage performance to thousands of applications within a shared infrastructure. Coupling this functionality with in-line data reduction techniques and system-wide automation results in substantial capital and operating cost savings relative to traditional disk and basic all-flash storage systems.

About NetApp
Leading organizations worldwide count on NetApp for software, systems and services to manage and store their data. Customers value our teamwork, expertise and passion for helping them succeed now and into the future. To learn more, visit www.netapp.com.

NetApp and the NetApp logo are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. Use of the word “partner” or “partnership” does not imply a legal partnership between NetApp and any other company.